ANSONIA — The Arcanum Lady Trojans earned their seventh consecutive varsity volleyball victory, sweeping the Ansonia Lady Tigers 25-15, 25-18, 25-19 in a Western Ohio Athletic Conference match.
Arcanum improved to 7-1 overall and remained unbeaten in conference play at 2-0.
The Lady Trojans opened the first set with a 3-0 lead, but Ansonia battled back to move in front 12-10. Arcanum responded with seven consecutive points to take a 17-12 advantage.
The Lady Trojans extended their lead to 22-14, prompting an Ansonia timeout, before closing out the set 25-15.
Arcanum jumped ahead 8-3 in the second set before the Lady Tigers rallied to tie the score at 10 and take a 14-11 lead. The Lady Trojans answered, pulling even at 15 before scoring four straight points for a 19-15 advantage.
Arcanum maintained control down the stretch and won the set 25-18 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Lady Trojans raced to a 7-0 advantage in the third set and stretched the margin to 18-6. Ansonia continued to battle as Arcanum went deep into its bench, cutting the final margin to six points before the Lady Trojans completed the sweep with a 25-19 victory.
“We know we played to our competition,” Arcanum coach Jacie Holman said. “Ansonia is a scrappy team, and they would throw some different things our way. Sometimes it threw us off speed, and then we made mistakes. A lot of their points were on our own mistakes.”
Holman said missed serves and a lack of consistency allowed Ansonia to make several runs.
“We have to focus on consistency, playing our game and controlling what we can control,” Holman said. “There were key moments when it was a close game and we were missing serve after serve, giving them an opportunity to make runs.”
The match came after Arcanum earned a three-set home victory over Division I Northmont.
“Maybe some of it is on me,” Holman said. “We went a little lighter yesterday, and maybe I underestimated Ansonia. They’re a scrappy team, and they do have great players out there.”
Holman was pleased that every player on Arcanum’s roster received time on the court.
“We got all our girls in tonight, and I am proud of every single one of them,” she said. “I am proud that we got all those girls on the court and gave them an opportunity.”
Ansonia’s coach also praised the Lady Tigers for continuing to compete despite falling behind.
“We were down 21-11 at one point and came back to 19,” the coach said. “That’s something for them to be proud of.”
The Lady Tigers are still waiting for an injured player to return to the lineup, but their coach said the team continues to make progress with an eye toward the postseason.
“I’m really impressed with our group of girls,” the coach said. “We had some really good team leaders tonight. We’re growing as a team. Some of our junior hitters who were on JV last year are swinging this year. We’re seeing the growth and improvement we were looking for.
“That’s our goal for this team — to continue building the program for now and the future. We want to go on a tournament run.”
